It didn’t take long for Jose Mourinho to win titles. Indeed, this is his trademark and appeal to teams that want to win right away. Only in his first two careers in Portuguese football (União de Leiria and Benfica) and in his last spell in the Premier League (Tottenham) did the ‘Mourinho effect’ fail. This Wednesday, the Roma team reaped the benefits of betting on the Setúbal coach, by winning the first edition of the Congressional League, by defeating Feyenoord 1-0 in the final in Tirana. In addition to being another European title in Mourinho’s curriculum, it was Rui Patricio and Sergio Oliveira’s winning first European appearances.
A little over a year after his expulsion from Tottenham, Mourinho, in the Albanian capital, won his 26th professional title, and still reached all the finals he’s been in – the European League (2003) and the Champions League (2004) with FC Porto, the Champions League ( 2010) with Inter Milan and the Europa League (2017) with Manchester United. He is also the first coach to win European titles with four different teams and the first to record his name in the history of this newly established UEFA competition. And for Roma, this is the second European title in their history, after winning the long-defunct City Cup with Veer, in 1961.
Not to be out of competition in its first season, the stage also had a new flavor (the first time an Albany Stadium hosted a final) for a confrontation between two teams with a history in European football, especially European Feyenoord. Champion in 1970 and double winner of the European Cup (1974 and 2002). But off the bench, it was Mourinho who drew on experience against his relatively rising opponent, Arne Slot, serving only his third season as head coach.
This difference between coaches extended to both teams, more experienced Roma against Feyenoord very built on the basis of their schools, young and irreverent, but with less experience for the finals. This was noted during this not-so-great final, where football was more reactive than proactive. Rotterdam were a little better in the first minutes, but the Romans knew how to defend, or it wasn’t a team Mourinho was coaching.
As usual, Patricio was in the Romanian goal and Sergio Oliveira started off the bench, but it didn’t take long to get in. Only 15 minutes passed when Mkhitaryan fell to the ground – the Armenian player had not played for almost a month and was in doubt, but it lasted only a quarter of an hour, and he was replaced by a midfielder on loan from FC Porto.
Almost out of nowhere the Romanian team advanced in the 32nd minute. A long pass from Mancini went to Zaniolo, the Italian international controlled the ball in his chest and, facing the opposition of goalkeeper Bigelow, made the hat to the back of the goal. Celebrating on the bench in Rome, Mourinho held his ground somewhat and ordered everyone to sit down. There was still more than an hour to go, and it wasn’t time to celebrate yet, it was the message the Portuguese coach left.
The Dutch team did not have an immediate reaction, but moved with full force in the second half and got the best chances in the first minutes of the second half. Rui Patricio appeared on the scene, who closed Roma’s goal in two moments, first with a shot from Thiel in the penalty area, after a first ball hit the post (it would have been Mancini’s own goal if he had entered). Then the Portuguese international starred in a shot from outside the Malacia area.
Rome was a wall in the second part. All the players, from Patricio to Tammy Abraham, the Premier League striker and a totally sure bet, knew what to do with what was left, confident in the plan Jose Mourinho had put in place for this final. When the referee blew the final whistle, Mourinho finally celebrated with everyone at his side. “Special One” was to become “Lo Special.”